Private space capsule returns to Earth

Update at 2028 GMT:SpaceX's Dragon capsule successfully returned to Earth shortly after 1900 GMT, splashing down in the Pacific. A retrieval team rendezvoused with the spacecraft less than a half hour later.

SpaceX's Dragon capsule, which could one day ferry cargo and astronauts to the space station, has been lofted into orbit. If the capsule can be retrieved after it re-enters the atmosphere, SpaceX will become the first private firm to recover a spacecraft from low Earth orbit.

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the capsule blasted off at 1543 GMT from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The capsule is set to splash down in the Pacific Ocean later today after making several orbits of the Earth.

SpaceX launched a mock-up of the Dragon capsule in June. But this is the first launch of the full spacecraft, and if all goes well, the first demonstration of the capsule's ability to communicate, navigate, and manoeuvre. SpaceX hopes to use such capsules to ferry cargo and eventually astronauts to and from the International Space Station.

In an effort to help develop commercial space ferries, NASA has invested more than $200 million to help the company develop its rockets and capsule. The firm also stands to earn $1.6 billion from NASA in exchange for 12 cargo flights to the space station with the Dragon capsule. A second company, called Orbital Sciences, won a similar contract, but its cargo-ferrying system has not yet been through a flight test, MSNBC points out.

SpaceX's first operational cargo flight to reach the station is slated for November 2011, according to Spaceflight Now.

If the Dragon capsule can be recovered, SpaceX will accomplish a feat that has so far been the province of national space agencies. "Aside from the US, only four countries and one intergovernmental agency have been able to launch a spacecraft and have it successfully re-enter the Earth's atmosphere: Russia, China, Japan, India and the European Space Agency," the LA Timesnotes.

My friends at Caltech/JPL/NASA must certainly be looking forward to the day when their jobs will be eliminated, taken over by private firms hiring Indian programmers and space scientists. Soon we'll have a few more billionaires whose services will be available only to their fellow billionaires and multi-millionaires.

I see a world in the not-too-distant future in which space jaunts will cost only $20 million a pop, offering spectacular views of an environmentally destroyed planet owned outright by the wealthy few and populated by billions of poor.

Rodney
on December 9, 2010 1:41 PM

Pity about the UK Space Industry, good luck to Virgin Galactic.

Nice to know that medium sized companies can beat major goverments in opening up access to infinite resources and markets.